kite 
kites. The name has been misapplied to various hawks 
of different genera, as Buteo, Circus, etc. See yledel and 
haickl, 1. 
More pity that the eagle should be mew'd, 
While kites and buzzards prey at liberty. 
Shak., Rich. III., i. 1, 33. 
2f. A sharper. [Slang.] 
Bolster Doister that doughtie Idle. 
Udall, Roister Doister, v. 5. 
Cramming of serving-men, mustering of beggars, 
Maintaining hospitals for kites and curs. 
Fletcher, Wit without Money, 1 1. 
3. [Prob. so called from its hovering in the ah', 
like the bird so named.] A light frame, usually 
of wood and covered with paper, constructed for 
flying in theairbymeansof a longcordattached. 
In western countries' the flying of kites is chiefly an amuse- 
ment of boys ; but in Japan, and to a less extent in China, 
it Is a national pastime of adults, often practised in com- 
petitive contests, with kites of elaborate construction. 
4. Naut., one of the highest and lightest sails ; 
one of the small sails that are usually spread 
in light winds, and furled in a strong breeze. 
All hands were then called, and set to work In earnest 
to take in the kites. The Centui-y, XXVI. 944. 
5. [In punning allusion to paper kites (in def. 
3). Cf . flier, 6.] An accommodation bill ; a 
negotiable instrument made without consider- 
ation ; a "wind-bill"; in the plural, mere paper 
credit not based on commercial transactions. 
See accommodation. [Commercial slang.] 
Here 's bills plenty long bills and short bills but even 
the kites, which I can fly as well as any man, won't raise the 
money for me now. Miss Edgeworth, Love and Law, i. 2. 
In English Exchequer-bills full half a million, 
Not kites, manufactured to cheat and inveigle, 
But the right sort of "flimsy," all sign'd by Monteagle. 
Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, II. 48. 
6. The brill. [Local, Eng.] Electrical kite, a 
contrivance employed by Franklin to verify his hypothe- 
sis respecting the identity of electricity and lightning, 
resembling in shape a school-boy's kite, but covered with 
silk and varnished paper, and armed with a wire. Ever- 
glade kite. See everglade. Flying kites (naut.), the 
light sails of a ship. To fly the kite. See/j/l. 
kite 1 (kit), v. i. ; pret. and pp. kited, ppr. kiting. 
[< kite 1 , n., 1 and 3.] 1. To go or fly with 
great rapidity or with the ease of a kite: as, 
to go kiting about. [Colloq.] 2. To fly com- 
mercial "kites"; raise money or gain the tem- 
porary use of money by means of accommoda- 
tion bills, or by borrowed, illegally certified, 
or worthless checks. [Commercial slang.] 
kite 2 (kit), n. [Also kyte; appar. irreg. < ME. 
"kit, *kid (found only in comp. : see kidney), (. 
AS. cwith = Icel. kvidhr = Sw. qued, the womb, 
= Goth, kwithus, the belly, perhaps = Gr. yaa- 
rfip, the belly, = Skt. jatliara, the belly: see 
(/aster 2 . Hence prob. , in disguised composition, 
kidney.'] The belly. [North. Eng. and Scotch.] 
kite 3 (kit), v. A dialectal variant of kit? for 
cut. 
kite-eagle (klt'e"gl), . A book-name of Neo- 
pus malayensis, a translation of the word Icti- 
naetus, sometimes used as a generic designa- 
tion. See Neopus. 
kite-falcon (klt'fa/'kn), n. See falcon. 
kite-flier (Ht'fll'te), n. 1 . One who flies a kite. 
See kite 1 , n., 3. 2. One who attempts to raise 
money by the use of accommodation bills. See 
kite 1 , n., 5. 
kite-flying (kit'fll'ing), n. 1. The amusement 
of flying kites. 2. The practice of raising 
money or sustaining one's credit by means of 
accommodation bills or other fictitious com- 
mercial paper. Also called simply kiting. 
kitefoot (kit'fut), n. A variety of the tobacco- 
plant : so called from its resemblance to a kite's 
foot. 
kite-key (klt'ke), . The key or fruit of Fraxi- 
nus excelsior, the common ash of Great Britain. 
Also kitty-key. [Prov. Eng.] 
kite-tailed (kit'tald), a. Having a long tail like 
a kite's: as, the kite-tailed widgeon, DaJUa acu- 
ta, a duck, so called in Florida. 
kite-wind (kit'wind), n. A south and south- 
southwest wind in Siam, prevailing in the lat- 
ter part of February and early March. 
kit-fox (kit'foks), n. The American corsak, or 
swift-fox, Vulpes velox, a small fox peculiar to 
western North America, where it lives in holes 
in the prairies. It has been noted and named for its 
swift-footedness, but this has been much exaggerated It 
was called kit-fox by Lewis and Clarke, named Cams velox 
by Thomas Say in 1823, and called C. cinereo-argentatus 
by Richardson in 1829. It is scarcely half as large as the 
common fox, the length over all being only about 2} f eet of 
which the tail is 1 foot. The color is a uniform pale red- 
dish-yellow above, in winter paler grayish with silvery tips 
of the hairs ; the under parts whitish, the upper lip and 
tip of the tail blackish. The pelage is very fine, with co- 
pious under-fur. This diminutive fox is closely related to 
3296 
Vvlpes corsac of Asia, having no near relative among Eu- 
ropean or American foxes. 
kith, (kith), n. [Formerly also dial, kiff; < ME. 
kith.kyth, kitthe, kutthe, kuththe, cuththe, couthe, 
< AS. cyth, cytltth, cyththu, knowledge, acquain- 
tance, relationship, kinship, native land (= 
OFries. kethe, kede = MD. kunde, konde, D. 
kunde = MLG. LG. kunde, knowledge, news, 
= OHG. Candida, chundida, knowledge, mark, 
contr. chunde, MHG. kunde, kunde, knowledge, 
acquaintance, mark, native place, G. kunde, 
knowledge, news, = Icel. kynni, acquaintance, 
= Goth, kunthi, knowledge), < cuth, known: 
see couth.] If. Knowledge; information. 
So kyndly takes he that Tcyth, 
That up he rose and went hym wyth. 
Sir Perceval (Thornton Rom., ed. HalliweU), 1. 12S1. 
2f. Education ; in the plural, manners. 
Whanne thou komest to kourt among the kete lordes, 
A knowest alle the Jcuththes that to kourt langes, 
Bere the boxumly & bonure, that ich burn the loue. 
William of Palerne (E. E. T. S.), 1. 331. 
3. One's friends or relatives collectively : now 
obsolete, except in the phrase kith and kin, 
one's own people and kindred. 
Neither father nor mother, kith nor kin, shall be her 
carver in a husband. Lyly, Mother Bombie, i. 3. 
Who (worse than beasts or savage monsters been) 
Spares neither mother, brother, kiff, nor kin. 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, ii. 2. 
For Lancelot's kith and kin so worship him 
That ill to him is ill to them. Tennyson, Holy Grail. 
4f. One's native land ; home ; country. 
From what kith the! camme cofly they tolde. 
Alisaunder of Macedoine (E. E. T. S.), 1. 1127. 
Ther is noght ellis but us most flee, 
Owte of cure kyth where we are knowyn. 
York Plays, p. 141. 
kithara (kith'a-ra), n. Same as cithara, 1. 
Thomson. 
kitharistic (kith-a-ris'tik), a. Same as citiia- 
ristic. 
kithet (kiTH), v. [Also kythe, < ME. kithen, 
kythfn, couthen, cuthen (pret. kidde, kedde, kudde, 
pp. kid, kyd, ked, kud), < AS. cythan, also in 
comp. ge-cythan (= OS. kuthjan, kudjan, kudean 
= OFries. ketha, keda = MLG. kundigen = OHG. 
kundjan, kundan, kunden, MHG. kunden, kunden, 
G. (ver)kunden = Icel. kynna = Dan. (for)kynde 
= Sw. (for)kunna), make known/ cuth, known : 
see couth, and of. kith."] I. trans. To make 
known; show; manifest; exhibit; also, to rec- 
ognize; acknowledge. 
For my loue his deeth was digt ; 
What loue myjte he kithe more? 
Hymns to Virgin, etc. (E. E. T. 8.), p. 11. 
Than either hent other hastely in armes, 
& with kene kosses kuththed hem to-gidere. 
William of Palerne (E. E. T. S.), L 1011. 
And he ageyn his trouth me had yplyght, 
For everemore hys lady me to kythe. 
Chaucer, Anelida and Arcite, 1. 228. 
So if I kydde any kyndenesse myn euen-cristene to helpe, 
Vpon a cruel coueityse myn herte gan hange. 
Piers Plowman (B), xiii. 390. 
II. intrans. To become known; show one's 
self; be manifest; appear. 
The deed that thou hast done this nicht 
Will kythe upon the morrow. 
Sweet Willie and Lady Margerie (Child's Ballads, II. 55). 
Unless a new stranger is present, they kithe in more 
rational colours. Gait. 
kiting (ki'ting), n. Same as kite-flying, 2. 
kitish (ki'tish), a. [< kite 1 + -isti 1 .] Of or per- 
taining to a kite; resembling a kite. 
kit-kat, n. See kit-cat^. 
kit-keyt, An ash-key. Sullokar, 1656. 
killing (kit'ling), n. and a. [Also kittling ; < 
ME. kitting, kytlyng, kiteling, keetling,<. Icel. kct- 
lingr = Norw. ketling, a kitten, orig. in the sense 
of L. catulus, a whelp (cf. kittle 2 ) ; in E. now re- 
garded as < cat 1 , modified as in kit*, + -ling 1 .] 
I. n. 1. A young animal; a whelp or cub. 
Dan, keetlyny of a lyon, shal flowe laargly fro Basan. 
Wydif, Deut. xxxiii. 22 (Oxf.). 
kittle 
Thenne saide the sarpent, "I am a beste, and I have 
here in myn hole kytlinyis that I have browt forthe." 
Qesta Roinanvruw, p. 243. 
2. Specifically, a young cat ; a kitten. [Prov. 
Eng. and Scotch.] 
No more base 
Than are a newly kittened kitling's cries. 
Chapman, Odyssey, xii. 
Whither go you now? 
What, to buy gingerbread, or to drown killings? 
B. Jonson, Volpone, v. 7. 
Monsieur Verney had an old Cat, and a young Kitliny 
just Born, put into the Air-pump before the Academie 
Royalle des Sciences. Lister, Journey to Paris, p. 09. 
II. t a. Young; innocent-looking. 
They used me very courteously and gentlemanlike 
awhile ; like an old cunning bowler to fetch in a young 
ketliny gamester, who will sutfer him to win one sixpenny- 
game at the first, and then lurch him in six pounds after- 
ward. Middleton, Father Hubbard's Tales, v. 689. 
kitmutgar, n. See kliitmutgar. 
kit-of-tne-candlestickt (kit ' ov-the-kan ' dl- 
stik), n. An ignis fatuus; a will-o'-the-wisp. 
Also kit-witli-the-eanstick. [Prov. Eng.] 
kittelt, . t. An obsolete form of kittle 1 . 
kitten (kit'n), n. [< ME. kitoti, kitoun, kyton 
(= LG. kitten), dim. of cat 1 (modified as in kit*), 
prob. after OF. chatton, a kitten, dim. of chat, 
cat : see cat 1 , and cf. kit*, kitting.'] 1. A young 
oat ; any young animal of the cat kind. 
He caste his nett in to the water, and drough out a litill 
kyton as blakke as eny cooL Merlin (E. E. T. .\ ill 685. 
Shal ueuere the cat ue the kyton by my counsail be greued. 
Piers Plowman (C\ i. 207. 
I had rather be a kitten, and cry mew, 
Than one of these same metre ballad-mongers. 
Shak., 1 Hen. IV., ill. 1, 129. 
2. One of several bombycid moths or puss- 
moths. The poplar-kitten is LHcranura bifida; 
the alder-kitten is I). bicuspis. 
kitten (kit'n), v. i. [< kitten, v.] To bring 
forth young, as a cat. 
Were some one to tell you that your neighbor's cat JK*- 
tened yesterday, you would say the information was worth- 
less. //. Spencer, Education, L 
kittenhood (kit'n-hud), n. [< kitten + -hood.] 
The state of being a kitten. [Rare.] 
For thou art beautiful as ever cat 
That wantoned in the joy of kittenhood. Southey. 
kittenish (kit'n-ish), o. [< kitten + -ish 1 .] 
Like a kitten or what pertains to a kitten ; 
playful ; disposed to gambol. 
Such a kittenish disposition in her. 
Richardson, Sir Charles Grandison, IV. 115. 
He cultivated utility in other ways, and it pleased and 
flattered him to feel that he could afford, morally speak- 
ing, to have a kittenish wife. 
H. James, Jr., Confidence, p. 166. 
kitten-shark (kit'n-shark), n. A shark of the 
family Heterodontidw, Beterodontus zebra, of 
China and Japan: a translation of the Chinese 
mime. 
kittie, n. See kitty. 
kittiwake (kit'i-wak), n. [So called in imita- 
tion of its cry.] A gull of the genus Sissa, 
family Laridce, having the hind toe unusually 
short or rudimentary, the wings extremely long, 
a bill with an acute decurved tip, and pecu- 
liarly colored primaries. The common kittiwake, 
Rissa tridactyla, abounds in the North Atlantic and Arctic 
oceans, nesting in myriads on rocky cliffs, and migrating 
southward in winter. It is about 17 inches long and 36 
in extent of wings. The color of the adult is snow-white, 
with dark pearl-blue mantle ; the primaries are crossed 
with black, and tipped with white ; the bill is yellow, cloud- 
Kittiwake (Kiss 
ed with olive. In the young the bill, a bar on the tail, and 
patches on the upper parts are black, and the feet are 
blackish. Also called white gull and winter-gutt. The red- 
legged kittiwake, Rissa brevirostris, is a beautiful species, 
with coral-red bill and feet, inhabiting the North Pacific. 
Also abbreviated kitty, kittie. 
kittle 1 (kit'l), t\ t. ; pret. and pp. kittled, ppr. 
kittling. [< ME. kiteleu,< AS. oitelianatDMttelen 
= LG. ketteln, l-eteln = OHG. kiziton, MHG. kitee- 
len, Gr. kitzeln = Icel. kitla = Sw. kittla = Dan. 
kildre, kilde, tickle. Not connected with the 
synonymous tickle.] To tickle: frequently fol- 
lowed by up. [North. Eug. and Scotch.] 
